People have different attitudes towards alcohol. Someone can’t even stand an evening without a glass of beer, while others have never touched alcohol in their lives. Even for a person without a degree, it is clear that daily alcohol consumption is harmful to the body, but what if we are talking about the optimal dose of alcohol? How much can you drink to minimize the health effects of alcohol? This question is relevant to many. Let's try to find out.
Don't drink much alcohol
I'll tell you right away - there is no consensus on this issue. According to some scientists, even small amounts of alcohol have a devastating effect on the body. Others believe that alcohol in small doses is even beneficial. And there are WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations that the dangerous dose of alcohol is 60 ml for men and 50 ml for women. But since very few people consume pure ethanol (I hope), this looks like an absolutely dangerous dose of alcohol for most drinks known to them:
- 180 g of vodka for men and 150 g of vodka for women
- 1, 5 l. beer
- 0, 5 l. bor
Absolutely dangerous dose of alcohol- the average amount of alcohol consumed, enough to die.
But don’t think that if you drink less than this value, nothing will happen to your body. Even if you consume the equivalent of 30 ml of ethanol per day (90 g of vodka, 800 ml of beer or a large glass of wine), it can seriously damage your health.
What happens if you drink alcohol every day?
Scientists have been researching this issue for a long time. Recent evidence suggests that alcohol reduces the risk of atherosclerosis. In part, it helps prevent blood vessels from becoming blocked by cholesterol plaques. Why is Cholesterol Dangerous? Causes circulation problems. The blood stops circulating normally through the blood vessels as they are filled with cholesterol and a person can even die. Alcohol, on the other hand, “rinses” the dishes and doesn’t let cholesterol stagnate.
Does this mean you can drink alcohol every day? No. In this case, we are talking about extremely low doses of alcohol. Based on the same WHO recommendations, experts advise to abstain completely from alcohol at least two days a week. Of course, the longer you don’t drink, the better.
The optimal dose of alcohol, which is not very harmful to health and may even have some benefits, is150 ml of dry red wine.
But that doesn’t mean you have to drink a small glass of wine every day, even if there are many stories circulating on the internet about how some grandfathers drank a glass a day and lived until they were 90 years old. Here, everything is unique and many factors need to be considered - from chronic diseases to hereditary predisposition. Not to mention the fact that alcohol is categorically contraindicated for minors and pregnant women.
If you drink alcohol every day, your body cannot remove it from your body and a disease like alcoholism begins. It has three sections, and these are discussed in this article. But let’s figure it out first - how does a person affect alcohol in general?
How alcohol works
What is alcohol in a scientific sense? It is ethyl alcohol produced by the fermentation of sugar, yeast and starch. And this "nuclear" mixture has an amazing property: it goes through all stages of digestion incredibly fast. That is, while digesting lunch soup (about 30 minutes) or chicken (up to 2 hours), alcohol quickly reaches its destination - the human circulatory system, sometimes even bypassing the liver if drunk heavily. He is simply unable to allow such a large amount of alcohol into himself.
Alcohol begins to do the nasty business in the circulatory system: it damages red blood cells (tiny bodies that make up blood), so they stick together and form blood clots. Blood clots, in turn, block the flow of blood in the small arteries, leading to blockages in the blood vessels in the brain. Therefore, a feeling of intoxication occurs, which is similar to when the brain lacks oxygen.
Therefore, if you do not consume alcohol in moderation, your brain will constantly be in this state. This leads to the deterioration of many mental and physical functions - a condition that is comparable to consuming a lot of alcohol at the same time. A person cannot stand on his feet normally and does not account for his actions.
Scientists have already shown that alcohol damages DNA and increases the risk of cancer.
Stages of Alcoholism
Alcohol consumption leads to alcoholism, which has three stages.
- In the first stage of alcohol dependence, a person gradually loses control over the amount of drink, which leads to the appearance of an abnormal desire for alcohol.
- In the second stage, one still develops "immunity" to alcohol, or rather it seems to him. Indeed, if a person consumes more than 1 liter of alcohol at this stage, the body will seem to begin to perceive alcohol more easily. In fact, it hides the development of serious diseases - hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, esophageal cancer and stomach cancer.
- The alcoholism of the third stage is characterized by the complete degradation of the personality on the physical and mental plane. A person can no longer drink alcohol and in most cases dies.
Scientists believe that alcoholism is affected by an inherited predisposition caused by insufficient production of enzymes that metabolize alcohol. But in fact, the amount of alcohol consumed affects this. You just don’t have to drink if you realize you’re losing control and an uncomfortable condition.
Why does a hangover occur?
This question is asked by many the next morning after a hectic pastime (usually with the words "well, I definitely don't drink anymore"). In fact, the explanation is quite simple: alcohol enters the body’s bloodstream terribly quickly, but leaves it VERY slowly. And the human body cannot fully recover from a stormy night until matter is completely destroyed and digested. This is how a hangover occurs.
Surely many have gugged about how to avoid a hangover before celebrating more alcoholic events. But the answer can be summed up in one sentence: don’t drink in large quantities, and then the alcohol will have time to leave the body before its head comes in contact with the pillow.
How to drink alcohol?
Researchers make a distinction between the so-called “north” and “south” models. The first includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Baltic countries, which also consume a lot of alcohol, in addition in shocked doses, and not always often. The "southern" model is typical of Spain, Italy, Greece, where they can drink even more often than in other countries, but less and less strong alcohol: for example, a glass of dry wine for dinner. No one drinks 100 g of vodka every day.
Scientists agree that the Southern model is safer for health, although they continue to note that daily alcohol consumption is harmful to health. So don't overuse it.